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Title: Electrochemical Formation of Germanene: pH 4.5

Abstract

Germanene is a single layer allotrope of Ge, with a honeycomb structure similar to graphene. This report concerns the electrochemical formation of germanene in a pH 4.5 solution. The studies were performed using in situ Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (EC-STM), voltammetry, coulometry, surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) and Raman spectroscopy to study germanene electrodeposition on Au(111) terraces. The deposition of Ge is kinetically slow and stops after 2–3 monolayers. EC-STM revealed a honeycomb (HC) structure with a rhombic unit cell, 0.44 ± 0.02 nm on a side, very close to that predicted for germanene in the literature. Ideally the HC structure is a continuous sheet, with six Ge atoms around each hole. However, only small domains, surrounded by defects, of this structure were observed in this study. The small coherence length and multiple rotations domains made direct observation with surface X-ray diffraction difficult. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the multi-layer Ge deposits. A peak near 290 cm-1, predicted to correspond to germanene, was observed on one particular area of the sample, while the rest resembled amorphous germanium. Electrochemical studies of germanene showed limited stability when exposed to oxygen.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  3. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble (France)
  4. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Department of Chemistry
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF)
OSTI Identifier:
1418637
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0004993; CHE-1214152
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 164; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats

Ledina, M. A., Bui, N., Liang, X., Kim, Y. -G., Jung, J., Perdue, B., Tsang, C., Drnec, J., Carla, F., Soriaga, M. P., Reber, T. J., and Stickney, J. L. Electrochemical Formation of Germanene: pH 4.5. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1149/2.1221707jes.
Ledina, M. A., Bui, N., Liang, X., Kim, Y. -G., Jung, J., Perdue, B., Tsang, C., Drnec, J., Carla, F., Soriaga, M. P., Reber, T. J., & Stickney, J. L. Electrochemical Formation of Germanene: pH 4.5. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1221707jes
Ledina, M. A., Bui, N., Liang, X., Kim, Y. -G., Jung, J., Perdue, B., Tsang, C., Drnec, J., Carla, F., Soriaga, M. P., Reber, T. J., and Stickney, J. L. Sat . "Electrochemical Formation of Germanene: pH 4.5". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1221707jes. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1418637.
@article{osti_1418637,
title = {Electrochemical Formation of Germanene: pH 4.5},
author = {Ledina, M. A. and Bui, N. and Liang, X. and Kim, Y. -G. and Jung, J. and Perdue, B. and Tsang, C. and Drnec, J. and Carla, F. and Soriaga, M. P. and Reber, T. J. and Stickney, J. L.},
abstractNote = {Germanene is a single layer allotrope of Ge, with a honeycomb structure similar to graphene. This report concerns the electrochemical formation of germanene in a pH 4.5 solution. The studies were performed using in situ Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (EC-STM), voltammetry, coulometry, surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) and Raman spectroscopy to study germanene electrodeposition on Au(111) terraces. The deposition of Ge is kinetically slow and stops after 2–3 monolayers. EC-STM revealed a honeycomb (HC) structure with a rhombic unit cell, 0.44 ± 0.02 nm on a side, very close to that predicted for germanene in the literature. Ideally the HC structure is a continuous sheet, with six Ge atoms around each hole. However, only small domains, surrounded by defects, of this structure were observed in this study. The small coherence length and multiple rotations domains made direct observation with surface X-ray diffraction difficult. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the multi-layer Ge deposits. A peak near 290 cm-1, predicted to correspond to germanene, was observed on one particular area of the sample, while the rest resembled amorphous germanium. Electrochemical studies of germanene showed limited stability when exposed to oxygen.},
doi = {10.1149/2.1221707jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 7,
volume = 164,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat May 27 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Sat May 27 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Cited by: 15 works
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Proposed low-buckled germanene structure. One half of the Ge atoms are 0.07 nm higher than the other half.

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